Tracy and Margo blog

Vacations can be stressful for people who are trying to maintain their waistlines. There's the fear of falling off the wagon when you're out of your routine. You might not have access to your usual diet foods (low fat dressings and all that) ... and let's face it, you usually drink more. Well, thanks to CityGirlBites, we've got a few tips to help you out when you take a vacation this summer. First, try planning an active vacation - like a biking trip. That way you can indulge in the evenings with minimal guilt. If you're not taking an active vacation, try scheduling walking tours, long walks on the beach or a day or two for biking. Avoid falling into the vacation mentality of "I can eat whatever I want" because there's no doubt you'll end up overeating! And finally, try setting a cocktail goal of two a day (or 14 for the week). That's certainly a way to keep the calories down!

Five Energy-Zapping Foods

The following products, despite claiming to be healthy or "better options," should be avoided as often as possible. Mostly because they make up for lack of protein with too much sugar. Eating or drinking these will easily zap your energy, ruin your workout efforts and send you to the coffee machine or soda machine ... or vending machine ... for a boost:

1. Lattes and cappuccinos: This might be great after your morning workout, but your high won't last all day, and the added fat and sugar through sweeteners hurt rather than help. Try green tea with honey instead.

2. Muffins and pastries: Sure, they sound like a better option than donuts, but let's face it - they're all high in sugar and calories without any protein. You'll be hungry again in no time.

3. Candy bars, granola bars and protein bars: Don't be fooled! They may have some protein, but you'll find mounds of sugar as well. And if you see any with sugar or corn syrup in the top five ingredients, skip it.

4. Pretzels: They look like the best option in the vending machine, but the lack of fat is more than made up for in all the process white flour that will send your blood sugar level through the roof.

5. Ice cream, hamburgers... basically any junk food that you think is okay to eat after a workout. Wrong. Eating this stuff will completely cancel out any work you've done in the gym.

Age Your Way to Happiness?

While our bodies will inevitably break down with age, our mood may not. According to a 2008 Gallup poll of over 380,000 people nationwide, people seem to get happier as they get older. People between the ages of 18 to 85 were asked various questions including how they would rank their overall life satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10. They were also asked whether or not they experience the following feelings during a large part of the day: enjoyment, happiness, stress, worry, anger and sadness. Here's what researchers found: at 18 most people were happy with themselves, but between there and 50, they feel continually worse. Once at 50, though, there's a reversal and people start getting happier and happier until, at 85, they're as happy with themselves as they were at 18. Researchers have a few theories as to why this happens. "It could be that there are environmental changes," said Arthur A. Stone, the lead author of a new study based on the poll, "or it could be psychological changes about the way we view the world, or it could even be biological — for example brain chemistry or endocrine changes." While specific conclusions can't be drawn based on the study, at least it's given people something to look forward to!

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